CBI opposes Karti’s bail relaxation plea, ‘cites’ Mallya

The CBI on Friday raised objections before the Delhi High Court to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s plea seeking relaxation of his bail conditions to allow foreign travel without prior court permission.

Appearing before Justice Ravinder Dudeja, special counsel Anup S Sharma invoked the case of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya as a cautionary precedent. While Sharma did not name Mallya directly, he alluded to the fact that Mallya, also a former MP, had held similar credentials before fleeing to the United Kingdom.

“There was another MP, he’s now comfortably in the UK,” Sharma told the court, indicating that the mere status of being an elected representative does not guarantee compliance with legal obligations.

The comment came in response to arguments made by senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Karti Chidambaram. Luthra contended that his client was a sitting parliamentarian, who had always complied with court directions.

Arguing that Karti was not a flight risk, Luthra submitted, “He is an MP, who is attending Parliament even today.”

Justice Dudeja also questioned the CBI’s line of reasoning, asking whether one person’s act of absconding justified assuming the same of others. “If one person has run away, do you believe everyone else will do the same?” the Judge asked.

However, the CBI maintained that its objection was based on genuine apprehensions and insisted that Karti should continue seeking court approval for every foreign trip.

After brief submissions, the court agreed to advance the hearing in the matter to September 10, scrapping the earlier scheduled date of October 16.

The hearing pertained to the INX Media corruption case. The CBI had registered a complaint in 2017 over alleged irregularities in a Rs 305 crore Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to the media group in 2007, when Karti’s father P Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

Karti Chidambaram was granted bail in March 2018, with the condition that he must seek prior permission for any travel abroad. In his present plea, he urged the court to ease this restriction, particularly for countries like the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the US, which he claims he frequently visits for work and personal reasons.